The work history of Fr. James "Jim" R. Nickel has just been posted on line. From 2004-2008, Fr. Nickel ran Damien Ministries, an HIV/AIDS organization in Washington DC, despite facing at least three accusers. One of them received a six figure settlement. The other two filed civil abuse and cover up lawsuits with an experienced clergy sex abuse attorney.

But as best we can tell, Washington area Catholic officials did nothing to warn parents, parishioners, police, prosecutors or the public about Fr. Nickel. Nor have they, since Nickel’s passing, taken any steps to find and help others who may have been hurt by him.

Shame on Cardinal Donald Wuerl, his predecessor Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and their staffs.

Common sense tells us that there are almost certainly other victims of Fr. Nickel suffering in silence. The official national Catholic church abuse policy tells us bishops are to “reach out” to the wounded. The Bible tells us to “leave the 99” and go out into the cold searching for the one “lost sheep.”

But this isn’t happening with Fr. Nickel. And it’s not happening in DC or in virtually any diocese on the planet with virtually any predator priest.

Again, shame on every staff member of the Washington DC archdiocese who timidly tolerates such irresponsible and self-serving secrecy. If one DC area man or woman who was assaulted by Fr. Nickel commits suicide, the blame lies squarely with every current or former Catholic staffer here who knew about or suspected Fr. Nickel’s crimes and kept silent.

We beg every single person who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes by Fr. Nickel or cover ups by archdiocesan staff to step forward, call police, expose wrongdoers, protect others, deter cover ups and start healing. We especially beg them to seek out independent sources of support and to call secular authorities not church bureaucrats.

Fr. Nickel was a priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary He was ordained in 1970, died in 2008, and worked in California (La Puente in the Los Angeles archdiocese), Minnesota (Winona in the Winona diocese and Minnieska in the St. Paul and Minneapolis archdiocese) and in Massachusetts (West Harwish, Fairhaven and Dennisport in the Fall River diocese) and in the Bahamas (in the Nassau diocese)

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 20,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

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Good post SNAP.
Matthew: chapter 18, verses 12 & 13 talks about leaving the 99 sheep and searching for the one lost sheep (King James Bible). The Roman Catholic System (RCS) is a cult which tries to pass itself off as a true faith. The Roman Catholic laity should leave the RCS because the clergy are just too big headed to listen to them or anyone else. I can see why the Protestant reformation happened.

Barbara Blaine, founder of SNAP, passed away on Sunday, September 24th, 2017. Her dying was sudden and completely unexpected. Words cannot express our sorrow nor are there words to express our gratitude for her relentless advocacy. She truly was a hero. There is an old saying, “well behaved women seldom make history”. Barbara made history and the world is a better place.

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50 State AG Call for Grand Jury

Write a letter to the attorney general of your state. Demand, request, and beg them to impanel a grand jury.

Any investigation must be:

independent of and separate from the church

must have subpoena powers and ability to compel testimony under oath

Anything short of these criteria is a sham and whitewash.

In addition, write letters to the editor, make phone calls to politicians as they can apply pressure to keep them responsive to our demand. We need to make efforts to ensure that they follow up on what the state is doing to investigate these crimes.

The Attorneys General of forty states have inquired about the grand jury process in Pennsylvania. Let's get statewide investigations going in fifty states.

Note to Letter Writers

Use your own words and style of writing. Cut and paste from the templates as you wish. Include your experiences, whether as a survivor or as a member of the community. And relate your letter to the state you were abused in or state now living in.